Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-05
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TIE ARDUOUS buINS OF rNE INC
LiSH PARLIAMENTARY WHIPS"

|
How tho Political Hounds Are eaIlSt
Together in Great Britain's Legislative
| Hsii--Th" Serious Responsibilities of
the Party whip
Political parties were declared by pulte-
ney, a hundred Years ago, To resemble
snakes, ia the fact that their heads were
moved forward by their tails Ii might
be- invidous, perhaps, at the present day
10 discuss the anatomy Of our parties i'll
order Ia find ont where the motive power
chiefly lies, but there can al least b< little
| doubt that a party without "a whip or a
couple Of whips, would stand a very poor
chance indeed On the hoor Of the house of
, Cummons The frs. lord Of the treasury
may be absent through indispasition, "
| or the chancellor of the eNchequer may
| stay away from some other rcason, and
| there are plenty Of occupants OF the treas
| ury bench Ia take their place for a night
But suppusing that both whips should I've
inCapaCitated. who would Re their snbst
tutcst NJ other members know half SO
| much about the party Organization as
| they do. They are inilispensabR-an
they arr aware of the fact
| Ii Is quite ton wears since, before the
| Liberals had been so fatally split up as
| they are ut present, that sir Niifrid Law
| son amused his constituents by telling
| them that ii was the custon Of the whip
| per> ia of parliament Ia summon their po-
1 litical hounds together 10y means of a
| polite little circular. which earnestly re
| quested'' the presence of each individual
| member who might I've counted on TO vote
| straight Ii there was no dash under the
| word earnestly il was safe to infer.
| said the honorable member for Carlisle
| that the business to which reference was
made might or might not come OIL that
evening One dash under the word meant
| that the member summoned ought to
come. Two ,IaShes meant that he certain
| ly should come. Three undermining strokes
meant tn II he must come. And if the
whip had been lavish enough 10 waste no
| fower than fcsir dashes on the earnestly
the plain Significance Of that WAS that il
! the member chose 10 stay away be would
do 50 at his peril
| II is open to question whether the use
of these marks, supposed 10 be so dear to
the feminine mind, beneath the summon
| iny words in whips circulars have been
productive of good or harm, One obvi
4
have very little respect for an earnest re
| quest without the accompan yfne symbols
of peremptorness. ID u whip were to
te asked what possible peril could
| he involved i'll a Iuenber disoDeying
| n party command. and staying at home
| when a great division was pending, he
| would no doubt reply that the peru arose
| from the members own constituents.
But, for all that, members who are casual
| In the parliamentary attendance or CON
| 1irmed abseniees do uRquestionably go in
| terror of the remonstrances Of the party
| fuglemen, apart altogether from con-
sideration Of the effect of non-voting on
the safety of their seats. r
| Long custom has made the rule Of the
| whip a prescriptiye one which nobody
would dispute, except when convictions
forced man to quit his party ranks and
| vote for once with the opposite hosts. 1t
is rule which is exercised with great
| tact and Judgment, and which is not re-
| sented. Now and then, no doubt, members
break away from the whips; occasionally
a statesman, like Mr.. Disraeh in his free
lance days, refers bitterly TO the party or
ganizatiOn as being too severe, aud dubs
| the necessity of obeying the whips ''sla-
very" As a general rule, however, it is
recognized that party would he all at
sea without these officials, who work So
| silently, and whose names are not marked
| out for the fame which awaits the political
| leaders ON either side
The whip has hard fate He leads
sGandalOusly irregular life, rs far as late
hours are concerned. He is expected to
rise with the lark, although he only goes
! to bed with the reporters, and when the
last light is being extinguished in the
house Of commons. Members of his party
who are in trouble of any sort come to
him and consult him as if he We're u father
confesSor. He is supposed to have kind
of intultive acquaintance with the feeling
of the party and Il he mishads the lead
ers in this respect he is made TO repent the
blundcr i'll parliamentary sackclOth. In
der all possible, irritatiens he is expected
| 20 keep his temper, 10 have nod or a
| word ready for everybody. and tn smile
like an angel, even IL kept up by an all
l might sitting and rackcd with toothache.
Inquire within upon everything con
nectcd with the game of politics, = ought
Ia bc inscribed in letters Of gold round
whips coat collar. ... ....
Now, what il the SuertlOn for all this
display of civic virtue' The virtue in
tins case, as in most cases, IL its own re-
| ward, and the whip gets no Iscuniary So
latium whatever. He takes his salary in
the esteem of his brother nueiabers, and
In the consciousness that he is playing an
important part in the political arena. NJ
| sooner are the doors OF the house thrown
i,lc and the division bell sounded than
he il 10 be seen making hrs way IA pidly
| to the front benches. there to receive in
structions as to which hobby his purity is
to go into, and other important" matters.
He is expected to have'some mesdneric
influence over members, so as to "keep n
house I" More than that, when there is
danger Of the cloturc being needed, Ne has
| 10 keep such Il house as was never dreamed
of in the good Old fashioned days, fur he
is responsible for having no fewer than
200 supporters in attendance, in the
library, smoking room, dining room or
lobby. ready to ''pounce'' when Mr. Smith
rr;vaS tho word II pp6nt Ta1ntyraySh .r.t